Method of and means fok maintaining



F. B. HUNTER Filed Aug. 14, 1933 Feb. 5, 1935.

' METHOD oF AND MEANS Fon MAINTAINING SAND BEAcHEs sMooTH AND s'TERILE wh D wn Patented `Feb. 5, 1935 u Y u l .v1 v n UNITED STATES" rPATE.l OFFI METHOD F ANDy MEANS :Fon MAINTAINING SAND BEAoHEs sMoo'rHAND s'rERILE Frank B. Hunter, Indianapolis, Ind.

Application August 14, 1933, SerialNo. 685,016

1o claims. y (o1. .4-172) The present application relates to Asand beaches, 16 comprising a floor 17 having walls 18 "and 19 and more particularly to such beaches as are sloping gently upwardly therefrom, the wall 18 arranged in proximity to bathing pool installameeting the floor 14 in the rim 15, and the wall tions. It is an 'object 'of the `present invention 19 terminating at 20 at a level above the normal tolprovi'd'e afmethod of,and .means for, cleaning, level of the sandv25 in the basin, but below the 5 sterilizing, smoothing, and compacting vbeaches level iof the rim 15. 4The portion '20 of the 'wal-l of such characteristics. Further objects of the 19 separates a gutter 21 from the basin -16, 'said inventionwilllappear as vthe description proceeds. gutter extending completely around the basin n To 'the accomplishment of the above and re-` and being provided with one or more drainoutf l0v lated objects, my invention may be embodied in lets -23 which may besuitably provided with l0 the .form illustrated in the accompanying drawguards V24.. The outer side of the gutter is proing, attention being calledv tothe fact, however, tectedtby a wall 22. that the drawing 'is illustrative only, andthat Y At spaced vpoints there are provided beneath j change 'may vbe made in the specific construction the basin 16 a plurality of chambers or traps 26, illustrated and described, or in the specic vsteps said traps `being substantially iilled'with sand l5 stated,l so` long as the :scope of theappended 27 of va coarsergrade than that'indicat'edat 25, claims is not violated. j or witha mixture of sand andrv gravel or with Fig. 1 is a plan view aof a bathing pool installagravelv alone. A sloping wall v28 'eXten'dsfto "a Y tionV embodying 'the present invention; point' spaced slightly above .the base of eachv 29 IFig'. 2 is 'a fragmentary vertical section 'of ,ray chamber-26m divide such chamber into -twop'or-L 20 portion of the installation upon a greatly enlarged tions, communication between said portions beingl l e scale; and f i providedby the space or passage 29 left between Fig.'3 isla sectional view of a trap used'in con-r the bottom of the wall 28 and the base of -t'he nection with my invention upon a still larger chamber. That portion 26' of the `chamber 26 scale. y which is separated from the basin 16 by the wall 85 In the past 'few years, it has been' found that 28 is `unoccupied bythe filter, and apipe-SO pron the value of abathing installation isgre'atly invides communication -between the i-ipvper vend oi creased Where a sand beach is provided in'proxsaid portion 26' and the intake port of asuitable u imity'to -the pool whereonrbath'ers may loll'in pumpl. n 'z l S0 the sunshine. vThe provisionof suchv a beach, Each of the spreader heads 12`is provided with 80 however, gives rise to a seriousproblem of main. a port 32 opening into the pool 10 and with a sec-- taining the beach not only in a sufficiently clean ond port 33 opening intothe basin 1 6, and a suit-` 'conditionwto meet the approval of the bathers, able diverter ivalve 'is positionedwithinthe *A but also `'in su'fliciently sterile conditionv to meet spreaderfhead and is adapted to be controlled by the approval of sanitary boards and 4the like. the handwheel 34 to divert water iiowing through 36 It is an object of this invention to solve those the head either to the pool 10 or to the basin 16,l problems. Obviously, the oor 1'7 of the `basin 16 will be Referring more particularly to the drawing, it slightly SIODBdv t0 drain lSOWaId the VpflOuS traps n will be seen that I `have shown a pool 10 which, 26, and preferably a gutter 35 Will be formedrn`v 40 in the drawing, is illustrated as circuler in ferm, such oor to assist in leading Water to' the respec-l 40 but which `may be of any 'desired form so far as tVe trapsf' j' Y the `Apresent invention 'is concerned. rIhe pool It has been OllIld that, in Spille` 0f all Precau- 10 is surrounded Hby a beach 11, vand at spaced tions which may be taken by the'operators of a rpoints about the periphery Yof the poel thereere recreational Ainstallation of this character, persons provided spreader` heads for `inlets V12 through who `usel the 10001 and '611 beach Will persist 'I1` 45 which water is supplied -to the pool, thev outlets throwingcigarette stubs, cigar stubs/wrappers of for the pool being positioned about the periphery various kinds, newspapers, and other trash'- upon of the island 13 `centrallylocated in the pool. the beach. It is also obvious that, in any public or` l In the embodiment of .my invention illustrated semi-public installation, the sand of 'the beach in the present application, thepool is ofv that char- Will 'become ycontaminated by sputum, `mucous, 50 acter in which -the floor 14 slopes gently upand other excretions of the human body which, wardly toward the periphery* of the pool, extend-y `in most instances at least, will be germ-laden.'A` It,` ing to a rim 15 which is located at a level above is necessary, therefore, to'provide means whereby the normal level of the Waterin the pool. y Arthe beach may be cleaned of visible trash, purged d@ ranged outside of the rim 15 is an annular basin of ysoluble impurities, and sterilized of germs 'to 55 f f g as high degree as mayrbe possible.- {Ihe visible trash, may, of course', be collected by hand labor,

atleast to the extentof all such matter which is deposited upon the surface of the sand. Such a procedure is, however, relatively expensive and 1 of course is absolutely ineffective Ato clean the beach of diseaseispreading matter. Further- -more,`the human animal in sportive mood invariably takes delight in burying things in sand and much trash is always buriedon' public beaches during a days use.

In an installation which` is equipped with the apparatus of the present invention, the cleaning rand sterilization of the beach isl rendered quite4 simple. After the beach has been cleared of occupants, an attendant or attendants will make a circuit of the beach, manipulating all of the valves 34 to direct water from the spreader heads 12 onto ythe beach 11. The water which flows through the spreader heads 12 is, of course, the waterk -which is supplied to the poolyand in all modern installations, thatwaterhas been treated beforegit reaches the spreader heads with some sortofsterilizingr agent which, in most instancesl is chlorine. 4 The chlorine-bearing water which is supplied to pools containssufficient chlorine to c be an active sterilizing agent; and the installationnecessarily includes means for supplying chlorine to the water supplied tothe pool. If desired, the chlorine-supplying means may be ac` VceleratedY so that` the chlorine content of'water supplied to the beach for sterilizing'purposes willv be evenjhigherthan thechlorine content normally supplied tothe pool. u i ,-,As water is suppliedto the beach, the sand 25 isl `saturated, therewith, theY waterV permeating the 4whole mass jof the sand. As the level of the y water rsesit will ultimately reach the level of I the rim 20. u V,'Ihe'operator may. now pursue either surface of the beach.

one` of two courses. He may continue the water supply,thereby establishinga current flowing radially `outward over the whole `surface of the beach 11 and 'into the gutter 21, .or he may stop the water flow at the time when the waterlevel in the beach ,hasbeen raisedsubstantially to the level `of. the rim v 20. Whichever of these two courses-he pursues, hewill now preferably agitate thesand'25 as, for'instancaby the use of ahorsedrawn rake or a plurality of hand-wielded rakes. Suchagitation of the sand will, of course, `loosen the'rmassof sand and free any trash which may [have been buried inthe sand.` Paper, cigar butts,

cigarette 1buttstobacco and other iiotsam will rise tothe surface of the water` andvvwill float there. At the same time, the, agitation ofthe sand above-mentioned courses, very little ilotsam will leave ther-beach until *such` -time as the rakes `are withdrawn therefrom and the supply of water to the beach isreinitiated. UponV restarting the supply of Water, however, a current will 'be established, whereby theiiotsamwill becarried offl to the gutter y21.A

`jWhen the beach'has-been cleared of flotsam,

and clear water is running into the gutter 21, thel water supply is shut off-and the pump or pumps 31 are started, whereby-the traps 26 lare evlollfted If, however, the op' 1,990,186 of water. Obviously, as water is withdrawn from the traps, waterwill ow from the basin 16 into the traps and will bey drawn thence by the pumpsA 31. Such movement obviously establishes a downward fiow of water through the body of sand 25, whereby intimate` contact of thefchlorinebearing water with every particle of sand in the `whole mass is assured. As the water flows downwardly through the sand mass, the water level in the basin is lowered and, as the water level falls below the normal level of the sand in the basin, the sand will be compacted in the same manner as lthat in which themsandV of the sea shore is comi ,pacted l y u The result of this treatment will be to leave the sand of the beach in a smooth, compact mass,

thesurface of the beach cleaned' of all otsam,

and the whole mass of sand thoroughly sterilized by the action of the chlorine-bearing water.

I claim as my invention: o

v1I In combination, a swimming pool, a plurality ofinlets spaced about the perimeter of said pool, a sand beach at least partly surrounding said pool and 'separated `therefrom by a wall,"a'gutter surrounding said beach and separated therefrom by `a wall lowerthan" said first wall, means for.

`selectively directing water iiowing through said inlets to said pool or to said beach, and means for exhausting water from said beach'by downward fiow through the sand. f ,I

2. The combination with a sand beach, of a gutter .located at one` edge of lsaid beach, said gutter being separatedfrom said beach by'a wall higher'than the level. of sand on said beach'and a water inlet located at theoppositev edge ofl said beachv and adapted toV establish a, flowl of water across the surface of said beach to carry'flotsa-m from said beach to said gutter. f

3. The combination. with a sand beach,A of Vva gutter located at one edge of said beach, said gut- .able material partially filling ,said basin,.and a waterinlet disposedadjacent the wall defining one edge of'said basin, the wall defining the opposite edge of said basinbeing slightly lower than said first wall. f v

5. In combinatioma basin formedof material substantially impervious to water, water-pemeable material partially filling said basin, a water inlet disposed adjacent the wall defining `one edge of said basin, the wall defining the opposite edge of said basin beingslightly lower than said first wall, a chamber disposed beneath the `bottom of said basin and openingv therethrough between said w'alls,and means for'exhausting water from said chamber, whereby water standing in said basin 'is drawn downwardly through saidv waterpermeable'material. i u 1f 6. In combination, an annularA basin, one bounding wall of` said basin being lower than the other, sand partially filling said basin, a gutter disposed immediately beyond said lower wall, and a plurality of water inlets disposed about said other wall and adapted to supply water to said basin j L.

7.111 combination, an annular' basin, one

bounding wall of said basin being lower than the r -the bottom of said basin and opening therethrough, and means for exhausting water from said chambers, whereby water standing in said basin is caused to iiow downwardly through said sand.

8. The method lof cleaning, sterilizing, and smoothing sand beaches which comprises flooding a beach with a liquid sterilizing agent, establishing a flow across the surface of said beach to an outlet whereby flotsam is removed from said beach, and subsequently causing said sterilizing agent to flow downwardly through the sand whereby each particle of sand throughout the mass is intimately contacted by the sterilizing agent, and whereby such sand is compacted.

9. The method of cleaning and smoothing sand beaches-'which comprises flooding a beach with a liquid so that thevliquid level stands above the sand level, agitating the sand while maintaining suchliquidA level, whereby iiotsam embedded in the sand is dislodged and caused to floatupon' the surface of the liquid, thereafter establishing a flowing current in said liquid to carry flotsam from ther beach.

10. The method of cleaning and smoothing to an outlet', andlthcreafterfdraining thev liquid sand beaches which comprises flooding a beach with a liquid so that the liquid level stands above 7 the sand level, agitating the sand while main--v taining such liquid level, whereby flotsam embedded in the sand is dislodged and caused toi5 float upon the surface of the liquid, thereafterv establishing a flowing current in said liquid to carry otsam to an outlet, and thereafter draining the liquid from the beach, by downward flow through the sand, whereby the sand is smoothed 20 

